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Smythewood Story Bible Part One
SMYTHEWOOD is a story that takes place in Smythewood, Pennsylvania. The community, like most communities in the area called the Delaware Valley, gets a lot of its identity from the city of Philadelphia. However, in a lot of ways, in spite of its proximity to Philadelphia, Smythewood can be kind of an insular community. The town itself is modeled after two similar communities in real life Pennsylvania, which also come into play in the story. Smythewood is modeled after the real life towns of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania and Villanova, Pennsylvania. Both communites are similar in size to Smythewood in terms of population and its proximity to Philadelphia. Both real life communities also have private universities that are rather well-known names. Nonetheless, Smythewood, for all of its size and access to Philadelphia, is still in many ways a small town. And as is common in small towns, gossip and butting into people's business go hand in hand. But that is not one of the main things about Smythewood. The community itself was founded by Colonel Hollins Smythe, who was born in Exeter, England in 1756. He came to the states as a Tory Colonel, during the American Revolutionary War. Despite his tory upbringing, he had some sympathy for the revolutionists and due to his help, deflected the British itself from Pennsylvania. He was there at the end of war, when Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia. After the surrender, Smythe married Marguerite Rittenhouse, a member of Philadelphia society, and had a large mansion built in a vast area southwest of Philadelphia, and from that vista point, a town was born. The town was initially called Smythe Point, but because of it's location being, at that time, in the woods outside of Philadelphia, the area was often called Smythe's Wood. The name eventually became Smythewood. Hollins Smythe became the mayor of the new town, a position he had held until his death in 1828, at age 75 due to consumption. After his death, the estate of Hollins Smythe became part of what would eventually become Smythewood Academy, which would later become Smythewood College and much later, Smythewood University. The original Smythe Mansion eventually became Smythe Hall, the administration building of Smythewood University. Prescott Smythe, one of Hollins' sons, would build the mansion in which the current members of the Smythe familiy live. Hollins' eldest son, Eldridge Smythe, was the son who had helped found Smythe Industries Incorporated. He founded the company at the very end of the Civil War. At first, Smythe was a munitions maker, helping contribute to the Civil War effort; but after the war, munitions became less needed, and the business diversified. With the advent of the telegraph, Smythe Industries was a pioneer in telegraphy, and helped bring communications to this area of Pennsylvania. When the phone came through, Smythe Industries was at the forefront of that new area of communications. It also owns several real estate concerns all over Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey. It is not uncommon nowadays to see real estate signs with Smythe Sells! The current net worth of Smythe Industries is well upwards of 3.8 Million dollars. Eldridge's son, Wilford, ran the company after his father passed on, and then Wilford's son, George took over. Upon George Smythe's death, his son, Andrew took over the CEOship of the company. Currently, he is grooming his own daughter, Amy Smythe, to become the next CEO in the family owned corporation. Besides communications and real estate, Smythe is well known in its charitable giving all over the Delaware Valley. However, it's not just the entire Delaware Valley that has benefitted, but also the community of Smythewood, where Smythe Industries began, (the original headquarters of Smythe Industries is now a mixed-use building, its new headquarters is located in Two Liberty Plaza in Center City, Philadelphia) has vastly benefitted. Smythewood itself is a very well cared for community. The main intersection of the city, called the Point, located at the intersection of Center Avenue and Villanova Pike is now a part of the Park Square area, called the Center Park area. The parks in the community include the aforementioned Park Square, plus Smythe Park, which had been set aside after Hollins Smythe's death, and was one of the first provisions in his will. As the years went by, Smythewood became more connected to the outside world when the Pennsylvania Railroad came through, and it became one of the main stops. It solidified the town as one of the main stops on the Pennsylvania, which cinched its position on the Main Line. To this very day, Smythewood is very much a part of the Main Line area. While it wasn't as large as Chester, it is still as important. The main economic juggernauts of Smythewood are those of the University and the transportation sector. At the intersection of several highways, and still served by the Pennsylvania Railroad, (not to mention that Smythewood is a stop on the SEPTA rail system heading into Philadelphia) Smythewood's transportation infrastructure is as strong as a lot of communities in similar size and stature. Category:Miscellany